The obligatory preface: considering his age (37), offensive decline (102 OPS+ this year, despite the crazy hot streak), his contract ($18 million this and next year), and his no-trade rights, the return on an Alfonso Soriano deal was never going to be fantastic. That said, the Cubs were not going to trade him just to trade him, and it was fair to assume that they would extract some value for Soriano, if they decided to move him (in addition to the bonus value of the opened up outfield spot and the opportunity to give Soriano a chance to win).

First, on the money side, the range of dollars the Cubs will be saving on the $25 million Soriano is owed is somewhere between $7 and $12 million (Jon Heyman says $7 to $8 million, Joel Sherman says $8 to $12 million; Heyman explicitly says it’s under $10 million, though). The Yankees were always going to try and have the Cubs pay as close to $18 million as possible (Soriano’s full 2014 salary) for luxury tax purposes. Mentally, I’d prepared myself for about $7 million in savings, so anything over that is a win.

On the prospect side, the consensus seems to be that the Cubs had three, lower-level pitching prospects to choose from. Bruce Levine describes the three possible pitching prospects as top 20 in the Yankees’ system, but not top 10. Once again, generally speaking, that sounds great, given the limitations enumerated in the first paragraph of this post.

Two of the three names appear to be High-A starter Corey Black (rumored last night) and AA reliever Tommy Kahnle, per Jon Heyman. Each is a guy with great stuff but control/command issues. Black is 21 (soon to be 22), and Kahnle is 23. Pre-season, John Sickels ranked Black 12th in the Yankees system (and probably falling a bit from there), and Kahnle was just outside the top 20.

Getting a guy you can dream on as a future contributing reliever – hard thrower, huge strikeout rate, but flawed – is a nice return for Soriano at this stage in the game. Combine that with significant cost savings, roster turnover, and helping out Soriano? I like where this is going.

But we’ll see.

UPDATE: Buster Olney reports the financial side like this: “Soriano is owed about $24.5m through ’14. CHC are going to pick up about $17.7m. NYY will pick up about $6.8m of that, including $5m in ’14.” So, $7 million in savings would be on the low end of what you’d hope for, but nothing to bat an eye at. The surprising part would be the Yankees picking up $5 million in 2014 – that counts against the luxury tax cap. I wonder if the Cubs preferred not to cover the whole thing next year? The financial side of this deal is extremely complicated, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s hard to describe in a single tweet exactly how it’s all playing out, and how much the Cubs really “save.”

UPDATE 2 (8:05am CT): Jim Bowden is reporting that the Commissioner’s Office has approved the trade and it is now official. We’ll still wait for word from the teams. We also still need official word on what the Cubs are getting.

UPDATE 4 (9:48am CT): While we await formal, final, official confirmation, and the official identification of the Cubs’ return, Nick Cafardo drops this bomb, which Buster Olney hinted yesterday: the only team Soriano would accept a trade to is the Yankees. If true, then you’ve got to feel even better about the return the Cubs were able to get. That said, I suspect we’re going to hear some folks refuting Cafardo’s report on this point.

UPDATE 6 (10:54am CT): Well, the deal still hasn’t officially been announced, but, everyone seems to agree it’s Soriano to the Yankees for Corey Black, with the Yankees taking on $5 million per year for Soriano (prorated this year to $1.8 million), for a total cash savings to the Cubs of $6.8 million. John Sickels has a quick take on Black, who sounds like a legit pitching prospect, albeit one with some size and control issues. Here’s a snippet:

Born on August 4, 1991, Black isn’t a big guy, standing 5-11, listed at 175. As you would expect from a former shortstop, he is a very good athlete and has plenty of arm strength: he’s been clocked as high as 100 MPH in short stints and works in the mid-90s as a starter. He has a curveball, slider, and changeup. Although none of his secondary pitches are considered outstanding, they off-set the fastball well when his command is on. His mechanics aren’t the smoothest and his command is inconsistent, but he picks up strikeouts at a good clip.

If he throws strikes and makes further progress with his secondaries, Black can start at higher levels. If that doesn’t work out, his arm would still look good in the bullpen.

“He also inspires the young players at the Cubs’ academy in Boca Chica. For more than a month prior to the start of Spring Training, Soriano is at the facility at 8 a.m. He’s there to prepare for the upcoming season and also counsel the prospects who hope to someday have the nice house and cars and lifestyle that Soriano has. ”

“The guy works his butt off all the time,” Sveum said. “There’s no doubt the fans lost a little faith in him sometimes with the things he does, but I think the fans have to understand he’s probably the hardest-working guy in the clubhouse. That’s always refreshing, and players love him to death.”

Truly sounds like a lazy bastard who didn’t work hard to me. Good thing we’ve got random accounts of supposed slights at Spring Training to set us straight.

You know, for somebody who complains about the manners of people on other blogs, you sure are being an all-fired asshole at this one.

Chris

Actually you are correct and I am serious.

gocatsgo2003

Just had a thought and, with all the pub rightly around the Soriano trade, didn’t know where to put it.

I know you can do this kind of exercise all day long and it is pretty meaningless, but… anyone else think Theo and Company were likely a bit frustrated to make the Garza trade before Hudson was injured? While it would have meant one more start for Garza in a Cubs uniform, seems like the Braves would have been prime candidates to focus on Garza for the remainder of the year. At worst, could have driven up the asking price yet another notch.

Thoughts? Do I just have too much time on my hands?

ssckelley

To much time on your hands, I do not think the FO could have gotten anymore for Garza than what they ended up with. What motivated the Rangers to give as much as they did was when the A’s got involved, adding the Braves into the mix would not have done much.

Coop

I am growing pretty concerned that the Trade Deadline Blogathon is going to be rather anticlimactic…

mudge

Ron Guidry, 5-9, 160 pounds, 25-3.

http://bleachernation.com someday…2015?

Jonathan Mayo/mlb.com updated his top prospects lists for anyone interested.

For years, scouts have been waiting for Alcantara to put together his exciting package of tools. He seemed to be on the way to such a breakout at Class A Advanced Daytona last year, but a broken foot ended his season in July. Alcantara has a smooth swing but needs to improve his approach at the plate. He has plus speed and is a threat to steal. Alcantara has a strong arm and the ability to be a solid defender, but makes too many mental errors. If he can make the necessary mental adjustments, he has the potential to be dynamic Major Leaguer.

http://www.hookersorcake.com hookersocake

THat seems about right, though I still fail to see why Matt Sczur is #10 A 24yr old OF in AA with 2 Hr’s? 719 OPS in AA? I know power is not everything, and Sczuz has decent speed and will probably be a good defender. but his ceiling seems to be a 4/5 OF or a guy that is ok in CF on a loaded team.

RoughRiider

It appears as if (some of) the Yankee fans aren’t too happy about trading Black (the future) away for Sorriano.

JayPaul

Black sounds a lot like someone who played college ball in my home town, who put together a short, but decent run in the majors, relief pitcher Jeremy Accardo.

nkniacc13

So where does Black report to?

DarthHater

Daytona, I think

Bsteady

I know our hands were tied, but Cashman did a good job this one. That said: Dempster and Soriano really screwed us over the last 2 years. I mean Soriano made over 130 million dollars with nowhere close to that in production. Although he wasn’t as bad as some of us made him out to be either. I guess in the end, the OF spot and salary savings(7 million is 7 million is 7 million) and his rights to veto a trade meant it was time. When you have 10 and 5 you have accomplished something and he reaped the benefits for sure. Bottom line here is; WHEN IT’S TIME IT’S TIME….Good Luck Sori!! P.S. Sure hope Black amounts to something!

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